Dropped Out of KAIST and Entered Medical School... 1,006 Students Dropped Out from 4 Science and Technology Institutes Over 5 Years

Jongno Academy "Departure of Science High School and Gifted School Graduates Contradicts Science Talent Policy"

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] It has been revealed that a significant number of students at science and technology institutes, including KAIST, have withdrawn to pursue studies in medical and pharmaceutical fields.

According to Jongno Academy on the 8th, an analysis of dropouts from four science and technology institutes?KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology), GIST (Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology), DGIST (Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology), and UNIST (Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology)?showed that a total of 1,006 students left these universities midway over the past five years, averaging 201 students per year.

By university, KAIST had the largest number of dropouts at 499, followed by UNIST with 263, GIST with 150, and DGIST with 94.

It is analyzed that a considerable portion of these students withdrew to enter medical and pharmaceutical fields. Lim Seong-ho, CEO of Jongno Academy, explained, “More than 80-90% of the dropouts from science and technology institutes are believed to have moved to medical and pharmaceutical fields,” adding, “It is unlikely that KAIST students withdrew to transfer to non-medical departments at Seoul National University.”

The issue is that a significant number of science and technology institute students come from science high schools or gifted schools. Currently, science high schools and gifted schools have established disciplinary measures that impose disadvantages on students entering medical and pharmaceutical fields to foster science and technology talent. Therefore, the trend of shifting to medical and pharmaceutical fields could pose problems in terms of science and technology talent development policies and national competitiveness.

In fact, 69.8% of KAIST freshmen last year were graduates of science high schools or gifted schools. When expanded to the four science and technology institutes, 36.5% of all freshmen were from science high schools, and 10.6% were from gifted schools. Science high schools and gifted schools often have early graduation, allowing students to enter university earlier, which is advantageous as it reduces the time burden related to repeating entrance exams.

CEO Lim pointed out, “If the shift to medical fields is at a level that causes real concern, it can be seen as a problem with the policies for nurturing science and technology talent, including science high schools, gifted schools, and specialized science and engineering universities.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.